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Remington Thunderbolt .22 Ammo

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14K views 26 replies 22 participants last post by  whiz-bang  
#1 ·
I've heard mixed reviews about the quality of Remington Thunderbolt .22 LR ammo. I'd appreciate any commentary from those with experience in using this ammo. Thanks. JPM
 
#4 ·
Remington claims they are improved...it would not take a lot to be better. I have never stuck one in a barrel but they are pretty inconsistent back when I shot a lot of them in the 90's and early to mid 2000's. With the way 22's still are, I don't know that I would pass them up, but you should not pay a lot either for them. I would think 35.00 per 500 should be the absolute top to pay and no more.
 
#6 ·
I don't use it for anything in my .22 cal. guns.

From the M&P 15-22 manual. Smith & Wesson DOES NOT RECOMMEND that the following brands or types of .22LR ammunition be used in your M&P 15-22 rifle: Remington Thunderbolt, Remington Golden Bullet, Remington Target 22, Winchester Wildcat, any and all sub-sonic brands and types.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Interestingly, the NFA crowd really likes the MP15-22 because it reliably cycles subsonics when suppressed. I put my suppressor on a friend's MP15-22 and it ran Remington and CCI subsonics without a hitch.

As for Remington Thunderbolts, they're OK for plinking, but I get way too many duds to consider them for hunting. I don't want to hear *click* when I pull the trigger on a rabbit or varmint.

At one time I bought several 5000 round cases of Rem Thunderbolt that was dirt cheap due to it being in wet cartons. A sporting good store lost power in an ice storm and their fire sprinkler pipe broke and flooded the store. I could barely move the shopping cart it was so loaded down. Had a lot of duds, but at the price I paid, who cares?

BTW, this same store had their walnut stocked 870 Wingmasters survive the heavy humidity when the store was heated up, but the 870 Express guns had their birch stocks plump up like a Ballpark Frank, just from the heavy humidity in the air. All wood on the Expresses had to be replaced, and they were changed to synthetic stocks. At this point in time Remington only stained the Express stocks, they were not sealing them. I dunno if sealing them would have done the trick, though, since the insides are never sealed anyway.
 
#7 ·
They're not my first choice, if I have a choice. The last several cartons have been terribly inconsistent and numerous FTF. I never shoot them in my Mod.41 Smith. I do shoot them in a little pump gun and a single action Ruger. Buy something else if you have a choice. JMHO Steve
 
#19 ·
The last several cartons have been terribly inconsistent and numerous FTF
^ exactly the same for me. I won't purchase any of the Remington .22 ammo. I had so many failure to fire. One carton had more failures than it had to fire. I had a Hammerli Xesse, Browning Challenger, and a couple High Standard Supermatic Citation & Victors.

By far the most finicky was the Xesse and the least was the Victor. Xesse wouldn't get more than 30% of the remingtons to fire. But unlike some, it would love the Win Wildcats. I just tossed out some old targets. One group of 5 shots looked like just one shot with Win ammo. Kept the Victor because it has a couple of barrels and can shoot as well as the Hammerli. CCI standard seems to be the most consistent for me presently for the cheap (well not match priced) ammo. Never again would I consider Rem. .22 ammo if it was me.

I used to love Rem .22 ammo. One time in the early 80s, my sister purchased 5000 remington vipers for my birthday. I think it was only about $120 and they came in a wooden crate with rope handles. They worked great! My cousin and I shot up about 2000 in two days from the (in yer bess Georgia suthern drawll) "baack pourrchh" with my 552 speedmaster. The speedmaster never failed.
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#10 ·
My experience with Remington .22 ammo especially the Thunderbolt loading has been poor. In get a lot of failure to fire and, when shooting on paper, groups are poor. I see a lot of "flyers" which indicates wide variations in the powder charge.

My current favorite .22 ammo is the Wolf Match Target made in Germany. I often get 1 " 100 yard 5 shot groups and one hole 50 yard groups if there is no wind. I was lucky to have bought a good supply of this ammo before the crunch. My understanding is that it uses Finnish powder and is made on the same equipment as the ammo for the Soviet Olympic shooters as it used to be made in East Germany.

Growing up, the Remington "Golden Bullet" high speed 22's were my favorite.

Remington, to me, has quality control problems with their .22 ammo.
 
#11 ·
Remington has a ton of quality control problems across many product lines. After multiple times of speaking with customer service over the last 4-5 years, I am pretty sure they could care less on what or how they produce guns and ammo. It is such a shame an American Icon has come to what it is today.
 
#15 ·
My experience is different. I have 4 Sig Mosquitos that I use for training. They get along just fine with Thunderbolt and golden bullets or CCI standard velocity or Mini-Mag..

If I ever want to have a bad time with them, I try to feed them Winchester or Federal.

Your mileage may (and sounds like it does) vary.
 
#16 ·
Frankly I've been a hardcore Remington fan since I started shooting nearly 20 years ago. However, both their firearm and ammunition lines have gone downhill FAST. Prices have gone through the roof, and quality has gone through the floor. Remington used to be my first choice for ammunition and reloading supplies, and I was incredibly brand loyal. Now Remington is typically my choice of last resort if there are no other options. I'll still buy Remington firearms, but typically only used ones that are 20+ years old.

Remington is still trading on their name, while they are getting absolutely trounced by other companies who can put out a higher quality product for the same price, or the same quality product for a cheaper price. Kinda sad when a $200 Savage Axis can outshoot a thousand dollar Remington 700... They can't put a Rem-Choke in square with the bore to save their lives (ask me how many Remington barrels I've looked down that had cocked choke tubes), yet mossberg can perfectly on a 500.

I'm really hoping things turn around when they consolidate everything under one roof in AL with all new machinery. At least from the firearms quality side. I took a tour of Ilion a couple years ago, and the machines they're still using should have been retired decades ago. I watched a kid chamber a rifle barrel with a long breaker bar on the machine and ALL his weight put on it to ram the reamer home.
 
#23 ·
Absolute trash. Remington has made the #1 worst .22 ammo in the world with Thunder Bolts. Horrible accuracy, filthy dirty, and will not function reliably in any semi-auto I have tried them in. Ruger 10/22, S&W 41, and Marlin have jammed at least once per magazine along with more duds out of a brick than a box of Milk Duds. Life is too short to shoot Remington rim fire ammo as Their Golden bullets are only a small improvement of Thunder Duds.
 
#24 ·
I had a box (50 Ct) shot them up at the range just to get rid of them, total garbage ... I think I gave most of that box to a guy who had his kids up there shooting ... Shot them inn an old Remington pump gun and it was so filthy after about 10 shots it didn't want to work anymore ... You can have mine if they are free because I do not want them ... WPT ... (YAC) ...
 
#27 ·
stockinpls your correct in your statement in regards to old Remington Rocket and Thunderbolts. They had a special composition 15 grain bullet that pulverizes on impact with a louder report and sparked on impact. They were actually the 15 grain Gallery round code 6722. The best gallery round made in my opinion. I have a bunch of them saved up that will be shot up on my gallery.